MARYSVILLE — Bats erupted in the Strawberry Tournament as Bruce and Becky’s Interiors won a June 6 slugfest to stay perfect in their third tourney game.
Shortstop Chad Mullins was 4-for-4 against South Snohomish as the Marysville squad held off a fourth-inning scare by the Rockies and won 10-8.
Mullins was part of a potent leadoff attack by Bruce and Becky’s. The Interiors squad’s first six batters all got on base and battled back from a 2-0 deficit after the top of the first. They used a combination of six hits and four walks to put nine runs on the board by the end of the second inning.
The defense backed up the bats. As Bruce and Becky’s added to their run tally — they had all 10 of their runs by the end of the third inning — their play in the outfield helped put some space between the Marysville American squad and their Snohomish rivals. The team behind pitcher Dante Fields left seven runners stranded on base in the first three innings.
But offensive swings are characteristic of Little League baseball, and this game proved no exception. Trailing by eight, the Snohomish Rockies came back from two outs to score five runs in the fourth inning, thanks in part to some big RBIs from their pitching duo of Raymond Rude and Jon Campbell.
Bruce and Becky’s closer Anders Smith stepped in and helped Marysville close out, holding the Rockies to a final run in the sixth.
In addition to Mullins, four more kids had a hit against South Snohomish. Fields and Dylen Boomer each had an RBI, while Joe Rosie, Cody Anderson, Mullins and Fields had two runs each.
A strong offense has been a crucial defensive element in the Marysville American team’s Strawberry Tournament success with wins of 8-4 against Pacific and 14-0 against Lake Stevens in their wake.
The Pacific win relied on a rally at bat after Bruce and Becky’s trailed 3-0.
“Defensively, I told the kids to minimize errors,” said team manager Jeff Boomer after the boys’ third win ensured their four-team pool victory and guaranteed them another game. “We only lost most of our games by one or two runs throughout the year.”
While the South Snohomish rally put Boomer on edge, the coach knew his kids could execute and pull off the win, he said.
“I have all the faith in my team. My boys have put it all out there,” Boomer said, adding with a smile, “They’ve given me a few grey hairs.”
At Cedar Field
